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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

My school hosted a talent show last week and teachers were asked to perform in between the student acts, a proposal that scared me into silence until another teacher volunteered me (damn you, Cavazos!). I reluctantly agreed, but spent weeks agonizing over what song to play. I narrowed it down to two and had Brian record me playing both so I could make an educated decision before getting on stage and embarrassing myself with something that sounds like crap. The first is an original that I wrote a few years back, the second is my cover of Patty Griffin's "Top of the World." Because I can't think of any interesting posts to add to the blog this week, this is what you get. Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

When I was pregnant with Atticus, I'll be the first to admit that I broke a few of the rules. I had the occasional glass of wine after the first trimester, I ate deli meat, and drank a cup of coffee each morning (after my morning-sickness-plagued stomach could handle it, of course). As you've probably guessed, I'm not one for paranoia. Not that I wasn't constantly worried about miscarriages, birth defects, and early labor; every first-time mother is. It's just that I felt if any of the aforementioned things were to happen to my precious little bundle, it wouldn't be because I indulged in a glass of champagne on my anniversary. It would be because genetics, bad luck, or other forces beyond my control were to blame.

Of course, when I had Atticus, everything changed. I remember coming home from the hospital with my pediatrician's gift of Your Baby's First Year glued to my left hand, while I held my nursing little man with the other. I read it over and over, obsessing over developmental progress, milestones, and the meaning behind every rash, cough, and hiccup. Slowly but surely, however, I've relaxed. Now that Atticus is almost 10 months old, I've abandoned the parenting manual and even lost it until I decided it was time to clean out the storage disaster under his crib. After thumbing through the "6-10 Months" chapter, I realized that I've been breaking a lot of rules. And you know what? I think he'll still turn out just fine. Here are a few of the "mistakes" I've made: